Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures

 

Announcement

17. Partnerships, March 12^th, 2021

The following partnerships documents are now available in the POPP templates library:

1. MOU with Government
   
2. MOU with UN Entities and International Organization

16. Private Sector Partnerships, January 13^th, 2021

The 2020 MoU templates are now available in English, French, and Spanish. They are linked in step 1 of the Formalizing private sector partnerships through MOU procedures on the Private Sector Partnerships policy page.

15. Managing Partnerships, December 31^st, 2020

The Managing Partnerships policy is now available in Spanish. To access the document, click on the Spanish language tab.

14. Private Sector Partnerships, March 11^th, 2019

The Private Sector Partnerships policy is now available in French. To access the document, click on the French language tab.

13. Private Sector Partnerships, March 11^th, 2019

The Private Sector Partnerships policy is now available in Spanish. To access the document, click on the Spanish language tab.

​12. Private Sector Partnerships, December 6^th, 2018

The MoU template has been updated in English and Spanish. It is linked in step 1 of the Formalizing private sector partnerships through MOU procedures on the Private Sector Partnerships policy page. 

11. Foundations, September 27^th, 2018

10. Managing Partnerships, August 27^th, 2018

The Managing Partnerships policy is now available in French. To access the document, click on the French language tab.

9. Private Sector Partnerships through Pro Bono Agreement, September 22^nd, 2017

Private Sector Partnerships through Pro Bono Agreement (Procedure 4, Step 1) link replaced and 'Explanatory Notes' column added with the following:

 -When a private sector entity approaches UNDP with an unsolicited offer of pro bono contribution of goods or services, it is necessary, in addition to the risk assessment of the private sector entity itself, to take special care to ensure that this is the most cost effective way to achieve a particular objective. If it is not clear that there is a unique feature to the offer being made, then it is essential to undertake a thorough mapping and scoping exercise to research comparable alternatives and to:

1. approach a wide range of similar companies in order to ascertain that there are no better offers available;
2. provide evidence that the pro bono services or goods are fit for purpose and offer best value by obtaining complete specifications of donated goods, including quality standards; 
3. define the necessary quality checks to be conducted depending on the nature of the donation; 
4. have a documented process of peer review of options; 
5. Conduct an analysis as to whether the contribution may lead to a 'future standardization whereby a specific good/service limits UNDP future choice and imposes unexpected costs. In particular, the analysis must show that there will be no dependency that can incur future costs.
6. Provide no unfair advantage.

8. Private Sector Partnerships through Pro Bono Agreement, September 21^st, 2017

The policy changes are reflected in the procedures (steps 2 and 4) as well as in the MOU template. In particular, it has been clarified that UNDP will apply the  UN SG Bulletin on Acceptance of pro-bono goods and services (2006), In addition, when a private sector entity approaches UNDP with an unsolicited offer of pro bono contribution of goods or services, it is necessary, in addition to the risk assessment of the private sector entity itself, to take special care to ensure that there is a unique feature to the offer being made. If not, then it is essential to undertake a thorough mapping and scoping exercise to research comparable alternatives and to:

1. Approach a wide range of similar companies in order to ascertain that there are no better offers available;
2. Provide evidence that the pro bono services or goods are fit for purpose and offer best value by obtaining complete specifications of donated goods, including quality standards; 
3. Define the necessary quality checks to be conducted depending on the nature of the donation; 
4. Have a documented process of peer review of options; 
5. Conduct an analysis as to whether the contribution may lead to a 'future standardization whereby a specific good/service limits UNDP future choice and imposes unexpected costs. In particular, the analysis must show that there will be no dependency that can incur future costs.
6. Provide no unfair advantage.

7. Managing Partnerships, May 2017

Aligned with new Delegation of Authority policy (2017): The Partner Review Group (PRG) as established in 2008 has been abolished. Previously there were three segments on partnership section, consisting of civil society (published in 2010); foundations (2010), and the private sector (2009). The review was taken place to distinguish prescriptive content (requirement) from recommendations or descriptions. The content is now streamlined to be one policy document called “Managing Partnerships” encompassing elements of civil society, foundations and private sector.

6. Managing Partnerships, March 28^th, 2017

The updated policy clarifies the implementation process of partnerships instruments (MoUs and financing). In addition, updated hyperlinks are on the intranet resources pages.

5. Revised Private Sector Due Diligence Policy, September 14^th, 2015

The new Risk Management tool has been added to the Private Sector Due Diligence Policy.

4. New Templates for Formalizing Partnerships with the Private Sector, July 8^th, 2015

In order to accommodate various opportunities to partner with the private sector, the following templates have been added for the use by the Country Offices.

• Contribution Agreement b/w UNDP and Contributor of Goods, Services, Incidental Expenses and/or Other Contribution
• UNDP Response Letter for Donations from High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI)
• UNDP Response Letter to the Private Sector (Below US$ 100,000)

3. Restructuring of Partnership Management Chapter, August 10^th, 2010

Restructuring of Partnership Management Chapter has started and now chapter includes the TOR and scope of work of the Partnerships Review Group (PRG) as approved by OG on 9 June, 2010 and links to Partnership Library.

The revised content enables staff to enter into partnerships with confidence and necessary instruments to: make well-informed and consistent decisions about with whom to partner; distinguish whether a formal partnership is needed; identify which partnership instrument to utilize; follow the correct partnership approval processes; maximize partnership benefits while mitigating risks; nurture and monitor the partner relationship.

2. Revised guidelines for collaboration with the private sector, October 14^th, 2009

Revised Guidelines for Collaboration with the Private Sector are now available. These have been updated to help country offices implement the Private Sector Strategy that was approved by the Operations Group in 2007. The revised guidelines: i) provide more accurate procedures on different types of collaboration with the private sector; ii) introduce partnering as a step-by-step management process, aligned with POPP requirements; and  iii) align with relevant United Nations policies and guidelines on cooperation with private sector.

1. Updated UNDP Partnership Repository, July 1^st, 2009

Partnership Management Chapter:

The repository will include all UNDP partnership agreements and will disaggregate them by name of organization, date of signature, sector, monitoring requirements, type of instrument, and focal point contact to ensure easy access and utility.